“Shift the patient to the OT” I heard a voice calling out. I have been in circumstances like these many times, usually the one hurrying the nurse to shift patient inside quickly. However this time, it was me being ‘shifted’……

I walked out of my room and into the operation theatre without even looking back at my loved ones. Without even a proper adios. I was excited and eager to be undergoing c section and for the birth of my first baby. As I entered the theatre, I climbed the operation table like it was a regular bed. Nurses started with their preparations. One busy preparing injection, another one was with the instrument trolley and yet another one was with me, getting me connected to all sorts of lines- bp apparatus, the pulse oximeter, the IV line, the ecg leads, the oxygen supply etc. I knew exactly what everyone was doing in their own zones, was completely aware of the importance of each and every movement being made in the Ot and yet suddenly it felt different today. I felt exposed, anxious, stressed, worried, helpless and vulnerable. Today I was on the other side of the ot table…..

I not only had a huge team of well wishers waiting for me outside the OT praying for me, but also inside the OT in the form of my doctors. Some known to me since my childhood, some related to me by blood. All took over with their own zones- The anesthetists checking up on the emergency resuscitation instruments and prepping for spinal anaesthesia, the surgeons on the instrument trolley, and the pre op scrubbing, the paediatricians getting ready to welcome the new baby and gearing up for any emergency resuscitation if required…..

A Shooting pressure of the spinal anesthesia needle up my spine showed me the other side of the coin. I was made to lie down now and surgery was beginning. I felt nauseous… My blood pressure had dropped, could hardly breathe. Meanwhile I could feel the incision being made on my abdomen. The anesthesia had numbed the pain sensations but I was completely aware of which step was going on. The smell of cautery cutting through the subcutaneous layer, ‘MY’ subcutaneous layer, the suction machine being switched on after entering amniotic sac etc. I was still in my surgical mind analysing what was happening in the OT, what was happening to me as I layed still whilst the anesthetist on the head end tried bringing my blood pressure back up…

Discussions were falling on my ears- latest techniques of surgery, prevention of excessive blood loss, neonatal resuscitation and prevention of asphyxia in baby… At all other times I would have been keen on absorbing the newer trends in medicine but now all I did was wait patiently with a deep breath in anticipation of that first cry of my little one to Indicate her safe arrival to this world….

As soon as the baby was delivered, I could literally feel a weight being lifted off me. The room was filled with the sound of her cry. My bundle of joy was here. I didn’t care anything beyond this anymore. The catheter in my bladder, the spinal anesthesia pain, the going under the knife, the pain that awaited for me post surgery, all felt negligible compared to the joy I felt as I kissed her on the cheeks for the first time…. Still lying on the operation table getting stiched up…